Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Letter to the editor written in response to businesses promoting alcohol sales

It seemed ironic to me, that in last week’s paper concerning
alcohol sales in Blanding, a large anti-drinking advertisement also ran. Then I read the Court Report and noted the
number of drug and alcohol abuse felonies. Thus the conflict is presented in
black in white. As we consider the
economic factors presented, we need to ask, just how many people will benefit
financially from such sales? And what will be the cost to taxpayers in
policing, and rehabilitating users of those sales?

There is already a strong pervasive message in media today.
Movies, television, reality shows, music, and even Facebook scream at us that
we can’t possibly have fun of any kind unless alcohol is involved. Hollywood along with partner corporations send
strong “amoral” messages to our youth, and we allow it because money drives
advertising, and branding on shows. Is
economic viability of more concern in a community than health, morals,
education, or social issues? Too many
youth and adults in our nation have already sold their heritage of health and
happiness for a mess of pottage in the name of gain and greed. Economics is not the only concern our
community should have.

I personally find it an extreme stretch in the argument, that
anyone would choose to eat or not eat in Blanding, simply because they can’t
have alcohol. I’ve visited lots of
countries and just because I couldn’t have a rootbeer, in Egypt, or Wales, was
no reason to dismiss the experience of dining in a new location. There are other highs in life to enjoy, not
dependent upon alcohol. That is the
greater message that youth need to see and hear, and that we all need to
understand.

I agree that it would been great if new business growth
occurred in the town, but at the same time I haven’t seen the Chamber of
Commerce functioning in any progressive creative way for many years. I think there are more important things to
promote and encourage than grasping at “spirits.” We don’t need another Jersey
Shore nor more youth in juvenile court.
We need to promote blue skies, clean air, gorgeous rocks, hiking,
rappelling, boating, fishing, and health.

Part of my bias is based upon why we came here in the first
place, 43 years ago. Blanding was a good
place to raise a family. We felt the
community supported the values we deemed important, and we felt safe here and
we still feel that way. As long term
residents, albeit “newcomers” to the community, it seems more important that
the community should reflect what makes us STAY, not a temporary alcohol fix that opens a Pandora’s box of even more problems.

Our other concern about more alcohol in the community comes
from working with the 12-step recovery program, both on the reservation and in
Blanding for over five years. We have
seen too many lives ruined, health depleted, children taken from parents, suicide,
child abuse, and deadly accidents caused by alcohol. We have enough problems already; let’s not
promote more chaos in our part of the world.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Thanks to the recent encounter of a Blanding hay wagon with
an electrical line, we were all reminded a few weeks ago, that we are perhaps
too dependent upon electricity. Its need
pervades every corner of our homes and lives, and we are blessed to have
it. Sometimes, however it’s good to
revert back to earlier, simpler times. Sixty
years ago, people still had a good life without 24/7 access to TV, Internet,
appliances, radio, movies, games and the luxuries we now consider necessities. Where were you when the lights went out? Did you learn anything from that experience?

Lessons I Learned:

1.Know where your candles, lamps, flashlights,
batteries, and solar lights are before it gets dark. I remembered to use my solar lights this
time, and found them easily! And thus didn’t have to worry about all the other
light sources. It’s a good idea to have
extra solar batteries on hand as well.

2.You don’t have to totally cook food. Turn off the heat, with the lid on, and let
it cook itself the last 15-30 minutes.
This is when a Dutch oven is especially useful, as they retain heat
super well. This decreases the amount of
wood, or electricity needed. You just
need to plan ahead. Our meal was only
partly done when the electricity went off, and 40 minutes later when we
returned it was still warm and good to eat.

3.Don’t open your fridge and freezer if they stop
working. Things will stay cold for
several days if left unopened. If a
freezer breaks, put everything into your washing machine, with a heavy blanket
thrown over it. That way even though items
may thaw, there isn’t a mess and hopefully, the fridge can be replaced or fixed
before you lose your food.

4.If you fear food loss because of long term
electrical loss…you can bottle meat, and other frozen items using your camp
stove (if you have propane.) Plan ”B”: dry fruits, vegetables, make jerky out of meat
using solar heat. Move your drying racks
into a car, or any place with lots of windows.
This ups the temperature significantly and dries things fast. Who knows, you may even be able to cook a
frozen pizza in there, it’s soooo hot!

5.What to do when you’re bored and in the dark: Talk to your family; play “in the dark” games
(plunk out a tune on the piano and see if anyone recognizes it. Sardines, and
No Bears out tonight should be exciting!
Have a read around –pass the flashlight or solar light and take turns
reading a story together; pretend you’re pioneers sitting around a campfire. And of course, go to bed early, and rise
early that your minds might be refreshed, and that you will enjoy and appreciate
the sunrise as well as your thankfulness for light. Hmmm, I wonder if they make solar chargers for Kindles?

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Canning
season is upon us, and this year has already been a bumper crop for produce in
Blanding. The provident person will make
sure they capitalize on the opportunity to not only eat and enjoy, but can and
dry everything possible while the opportunity is here. Often there is a late spring freeze and we
are not blessed with so much fruit.

One of the
great pluses this season, is that Facebookers throughout the county have been
very generous and timely in either selling or giving away extra produce. The Farmers Market each Saturday is another
outlet for produce if you don’t have your own garden.

Thanks to Will
and Jessica McFarland for initiating this trend by setting up Blanding’s 24/7
garage sale. It’s an extremely provident
and kind way to pass along items a person no longer needs but may help someone
else. One person’s trash may be another’s
treasure! Since they started this about
5 months ago, Blanding Classifieds, and “Free” have also sprouted up. What a great way to cut costs, for locals who
are being hammered by the $3.98 per gallon gas prices. Any way we can share is wise and frankly a
fun challenge and it makes us better stewards of the good things God has given
us, much more so than throwing them away. [Update. As of May 2016 this community site has over 8000 members!]

My son, Nathan, would
be so proud of me today. I actually emptied three dozen bottles of old fruit
that had been canned in 1982 and 1989.
Being the frugal person that I am, I had used the discolored fruit when
I made whole wheat bread, in place of applesauce. But I finally had to admit, I’d never be able
to make enough bread to use it all up and that our composter would
appreciate it, more than my posterity. It
freed up lots of bottles and space so I can preserve more of this year's garden. So while you’re canning-- clean, reshuffle,
and organize your food storage. [Update 2016, now as I empty bottles I'm giving them to Silvia, who will soon have a bigger storage room than I do!]

In the
process I experimented with several other uses for the pear and apricot pulp—mainly
using it as a replacement for zucchini in cupcakes. Not one to follow a perfectly good recipe
more than once, I’m all for experimenting and using up what is on hand. I’m sure that’s how most recipes originate.
In fact, half way through this process (which I was doing while also canning
tomatoes and grapes) I discovered I had used half of one recipe, then shifted
to the other page and finished up with a 2nd recipe. Carelessness, along with necessity, may be
the mother of invention! They turned out
great, with the nuts coming from Autumn’s father-in-law in Logan. He too, is a great one to pass-along the
bounties of the garden.

Yesterday while listening to Studio Five on KSL, I learned a few other new
tricks in the kitchen: Pick
pears while they are still green. Put
them into a shallow box to ripen and cover with a blanket. Use as they turn yellow. These are delicious dried, and don’t need
anything added. They can be scalded just like peaches, which speeds up the
peeling process.

2. Spice
up your pears when you can them, by dropping in an Atomic Fireball in bottom of each bottle to make them pink and give
them a little taste of cinnamon.

3. A simple way to cut corn off
the cob for canning or freezing. Pull out
your Bundt pan, put the end of the cob in the open hole in the middle. As you slice off the kernals, they fall into
the pan. What could be simpler! If you have lots to do, use an electric
knife.

When canning Thompson grapes or other light colored ones,

you can add peach peelings, a plum or other bright fruit to

give it a pink color.

4. From Marylynn Smith I learned
if I want to color up my blah white grape juice coming out of the steamer, I
can just toss in some peach peelings, a plum, or a few raspberries.

5.This last idea would not pass
muster from my favorite county extension agent, but myself and other multi-decade canners in my neighborhood
reuse our canning lids! I know Mason and
Ball are throwing up their hands in dismay, but if you are careful when you
remove the lids, they can be used 2-4 times.
Of course, you have to pay attention to whether they are flat, and not
rusted. If you can a lot, this really saves
money.

6.I also have an issue with the paranoia
caused by expiration dates on packages. These are really only guidelines to help you
buy food at optimal freshness.
They should not be considered as a dictatorial mandate, telling
you to thrown away food! They have
nothing to do with whether the food is safe to use. There is no standardization in packaging dates
in the U.S. So don’t be so quick to
throw food away, just because a certain date is on it. The
bigger travesty is the amount of waste in our country caused by robotic cooks
who waste perfectly good food because they don’t trust their own good sense,
taste buds, and nose. The only items
required by federal law to be labeled for expiration are infant formula
and some baby foods; some states also mandate pulling dairy from store shelves
on the expiration date.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

This year marks 100 years that the
Wilcox home has been in existence. Our
curiosity about the history of our house was first piqued when we remodeled the
kitchen in 1977 and found copies of the Deseret Evening News dated 1912, in the
walls. They had evidently been used for
insulation. We saved some of the
newspapers and these became the starting point for a research project that
three of our sons (Aaron, Robert, and Nathan) did for a Regional History Fair
in 1984. They interviewed several people
who had either owned or lived near the home.
Primary informant was Alma Palmer who had kept a detailed journal of every
improvement he made on the property when they owned it, as well as its cost. Verde
Washburn Hughes who also lived in our home, also provided information via
letters and sketches March 18, 1984.

The original structure at 112 S.
300 W. was at first a small granary, but was later turned into a two-room home
by Benjamin Grant Black, the year he married Jennie Melinda Brown in 1912. Four the Black’s children were born in this
little wood home. They lived there for
seven years, and the sold it to LaVell and Wasel Washburn.

It was during 1912 that the first
elementary school was also built in Blanding, and in 1914 the South chapel was
begun. In 1915 the Grayson post office
was changed Blanding, and the next year the town built its first reservoir
(1916) and the stone bank and Blacks grist mill were also built.

LaVell traded the corner lot west
of Morley Guymon’s (where Deb and Charles Orvin now live) to Benjamin Black in
1919 for the little home and lot. Originally the kitchen door was on the north,
with a small porch. Verde recalled, “Oh, the cave of
that vine covered porch, the play house, the bed in summer, and reaching
through those vines in winter for a bite of clean snow.”

LaVell expanded the kitchen and
added a lean-to bedroom and moved the kitchen door to the south. There was no
inside water, but there was a stand tap on the north side. The Washburns had six children and had two
big beds in the bedroom, “There was with no room to move or mop,” said daughter
Verde Hughes. Vel and J.B. Washburn were
both born in the living room of the little three-room home. The walls were
adobe and the roof was tar papered by her mother Wasel. The wall boards were calcimined.

The corrals and barn were built
by the Washburns. An irrigation ditch
ran past the north side of the house. The granary and livestock pens were
located on the east side of the barn.
Like most Blanding families, the Washburns, kept a milk cow. “LaVell could whirl a full bucket of milk
around his head and not spill a drop,” remembered his daughter Verde. “Wasel
made the best bread in the world, divinity candy, mashed potatoes and gravy,
pies and delicious beans.”

In 1931 LaVell Washburn sold his Alkali Ranch and bought Zeke
Johnson’s brick house across the street (where Maureen Beeson lives). Wasel had helped her father David Patten
Black build that home in 1915. The
Blacks lived there until 1929 when David Patten traded it to Zeke Johnson for
the Charley Sipe home. The Washburns sold their little home to Alma and Lila
Palmer in 1931. All of the Palmer
children were raised there. They had
three milk cows and 44 pigs at one time, and Lila usually did the milking,
gardening, & watering because Alma was away doing road construction and
other projects. Alma did, however, keep a
very detailed diary of all his business dealings and the following data came
from his diary:

1946—Built a second level addition, also added a porch, and front
room. Robert Dodge and Frank Wright did
the work. A garage was built, cost $370; a picket fence was also added.

1949—Cement walks were poured around the home, cost $117; brick
planters were put in which cost $190.
The Chicken coop was built for $485.
(All are still intact.)

1950—Planted the maple tree on the north lawn. (Now 62 years old.)

1952--Planted the Ash tree on the north lawn. (60 years old). Girls who grew up with Margaret, Ilene, and
Shirley also remember the play house Alma built for his kids, and how much fun
it was to play there.

1955—A fireplace and large patio doors were added on the south by
Ernest Sondregger.

1962—Home was remodeled again; paneling installed in the front rooms
for $300. Doug Harvey and Don Pendleton,
Glen Johnson did most of the carpentry.
This was beautiful dark walnut paneling made from scratch.

1973—Pete and Charlotte Black bought home from the Palmers;
insulation was blown in to the attic.

1974—The Blacks sold the home to the Wilcox family. We had four children at the time: Aaron 4,
Rob 3, Nathan 2, and Chris 1 year old.
After living in a trailer for six years, we thought we had moved into a
castle!!

1975—We reshingled the house, remodeled and insulated the middle
upstairs bedroom. Planted lawn on the
west side of the house. Debarked the elm
trees on the north and south to kill them, as they were over powering the Maple
trees. We loved the large garden and
orchard area as both of us were raised on Idaho farms. Two of the original
grapes vines are still growing.

1976-- Feb. 2, Quentin born; large garden planted (and each year
afterward). Steve has always put in a large garden and taken good care of it. This not only gave us (and our neighbors) fresh produce all summer, but lots to can for storage.

1977—Drilled a well near the barn. Cost $1221. Anthony born Sept. 271978-79—Dick Einerson remodeled our kitchen, added new cabinets. Cost $4000. Autumn born Oct. 31 Built a grape arbor, and planted more trees and grapes.

1981—Andrew born April 6.

1982—Installed chain link fence around three sides of our acreage.

1987—Added on 12 feet to west end of home, and brought the walls
straight up on the 2nd story.
This added four more rooms upstairs. Hoyt Hoagland did the work and
remodeling for $17,000. Our family did
the sheet rocking, perfa-taping and painting and finishing work. It was a long winter!

Jan. 4 , 1990—A house fire destroyed the interior walls downstairs,
and smoke damaged the rest of the home. We
were devastated to lose all the hard work we had just completed. The basic
structure, however, was still solid.
Bishop and Sister Webb generously invited us to stay with them, until we
could find another place to stay. Nine people for company for over a week—just imagine! Our neighbors and friends helped
clear out the insulation, and burnt sections as well as wash our clothes,
dishes, and anything salvageable. What a
labor of love they provided. We were soon able to rent Dr. VanDyke’s home,
where the Giddings now live on the dump road.
Scott Hurst and his crew rebuilt our home and we moved back in 6 months later. They did amazing work, and made the home
better than ever. We truly felt an
outpouring of community love and support during this very trying time.

January - July 1990 Hurst Buildingadded new wiring, insulation,
plumbing, bay window on south, termite prevention, storm windows, new furnace,
porch in front, vinyl siding and cement work.
They took down walls in the kitchen/family room area, added a big
support beam, to open up the back of the home.
Taylor Palmer did the cabinets for the kitchen and office. They did wonderful work, and we were so
thankful to be back in our home six months later.

1992—City installed curb and gutter on 3rd west and 1st
south.

2003 -- With the help of the boys we leveled off the south patio area and added flagstone in time for Andrew's wedding. So now the patio was part cement, part wooden docks from UNDC (that Silvia and I confiscated) and then flagstone.

2006—Tired of hauling around water hoses for 30 years, we installed
a sprinkler system, in preparation for leaving on the mission in 2007.

2011-- We leveled off the
patio area with new cement and vinyl on the garage. Virgil Steve and Dave Moore also tiled our entry way.

In 2012 weadded a deck with an escape route in case of
fire. It has only taken us 20 years to
do that!

2013 During April Conference Ashley and Autumn helped give our kitchen a face lift, with a bright blue turquoise. I would never been able to climb up on the cabinets to do it, and I love the cheer it brings to our home.

We love our home, and appreciate
changes and improvements made over the past 100 years. It has served its occupants well and been a
wonderful refuge to all the families who lived there, a temporary abode for students in transit, and hopefully a friendly
respite for those who come to visit and often to play games.

Often people are quick to tear things down and start over, instead of
valuing the stability and soundness of our foundations. We truly have learned to value those who came
before us, each one adding significant and beneficial contributions. Each one
adding a new level of enjoyment to the structure and property. So Happy
Birthday to our Black, Washburn, Palmer, Black, Wilcox home.

Friday, August 10, 2012

It was 25 years ago, that the first issue of Blue
Mountain Shadows was published, with the hope that at least a dozen or so
issues of the magazine might eventually come forth. This year marks the 25 year milestone of the
magazine, and 45 magazines, and several books having been published thus far. This historic endeavor began as a small visionary
seed that took tremendous tending and nurturing over the years. As a result of
those dogged efforts the seed has yielded many successful harvests, thanks to
hundreds of writers and dedicated staff members.

Current Managing Editor & Photo Editor, LaVerne Tate,
has been with the magazine since its inception as has Editor Bob Pherson. He states, “No other county in Utah, and most
likely the United States, has had such a consistent, long term record of
devotion to its heritage, presented in a public forum available to the non-specialist.”
The San Juan County Commission has also been a key partner over the years.

McPherson says of this particular issue, “Readers can learn
of Hole-in-the-Rock settlers who moved beyond Bluff to make homes elsewhere;
the amazing skills of local craftsmen who created their own lime mortar, sawed
lumber, quarried rock and fired brink to create buildings that still serve;
miners who ventured onto the Navajo Reservation . . .; how Navajos, Utes and
Mormons viewed each other. . . . This
issue of Blue Mountain Shadows is a fitting tribute to our past – in
both the history of the county, as well as that of the magazine.”

This summer issue commemorates Blue Mountain Shadows’
beginnings. Initial founders Janet Wilcox and LaVerne Tate both write of the
struggles beginning the magazine and the great help high school students and
local adults provided in the collection and writing process. Deniane Gutke
Kartchner includes her perspective as a high school interviewer/transcriber who
“grew up with Blue Mountain Shadows.”
She eventually became the layout and design specialist of the magazine.

Several of the early topics are reexamined in this new issue
with Bob McPherson discussing “Views Across a Chasm” a 100 year look at
Ute-Anglo relations in the county. Mabel
June Palmer takes a closer look at the history of the Blanding Tabernacle, with
humor and insight that few others have. Interviews done in 1975 and 1977 with
George A. Hurst are included. They
recount the actual building of the South Chapel, while Winston Hurst gives detailed
insight into the brick making process, as well as listing of buildings built
from those bricks. (You may be living in
one of them!)

Other faithful history buffs and contributors James
Knipmeyer, Ron McDonald, and Corrine Roring, add additional articles on
homesteading, prospecting, and landmarks of the county. Just when you thought you knew it all, inquiring
minds keep uncovering more about the area.
Their information will both surprise and enlighten readers.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Blue Mountain Shadows
started with a seed planted at the Fife Folklore Conference in Logan in June of
1983. K.C. Benedict and I had just become
friends, and attending the two-day conference was our first historical foray together. Little did we realize at the time that the
seed would eventually expand to encompass 25 years of historical work and 45 magazines. 1983 was also the year we bought our first
computer. What a blessing this new
technology was to be in facilitating the birth of Blue Mountain Shadows and helping it blossom.

The conference was not only interesting but
motivational and a seed began to germinate.
As we travelled home from Logan to Blanding, ideas and possibilities of
how I could incorporate folklore were turning cartwheels in my mind. The whole
trip was a memorable one, as we bounced ideas back and forth. Eventually K C helped on our planning
committee and became the writing expert who trained our first crew of
researchers in 1987. She has also been
an editor and writer.

Initially I applied
what I learned at the conference in doing a folklore project for USU credit. I conducted about 10 interviews that summer,
all focusing on a local trickster. This was eventually printed in issue #7 of
BMS. I began teaching at San Juan High the
next year in 1984, and besides all the other “have too’s” I began incorporating
historical research and writing into the curriculum. Jessie Embry who worked at
BYU’s Charles Redd Center came down and trained my students and me on how to do
oral interviews. I have used her strategies
ever since. By the time these 11th grade students did background
research, prepared questions, conducted interviews, transcribed them, and wrote
a paper, they had processed a lot of language in multiple ways

By 1986 I had had compiled
a good collection of student generated stories and reports and I wanted to find
a way to share their work. It was during
that time that I met with Bob McPherson,
and LaVerne Tate, both of whom were already involved with historical
preservation and loved the history of San Juan County. While the seedling of
historical research had been growing, there had yet to be a harvest. We formed a committee and hammered out a
mission statement of what we hoped to accomplish and have stuck to it for 25
years.

Our initial goals included:

1.Publishing two magazines yearly

2.Conducting oral interviews with
Hispanic, Ute, Anglo, and Navajo San Juan County residents

3.Transcribing and translating all taped interviews

4.Cataloging and indexing tapes,
transcripts, photographs, and research articles

5.Sponsoring public programs which explain and share new historical
information

In a
sense this was our garden design and we became the caretaker-gardeners of the Blue Mountain Shadows dream, tending and
nurturing it and keeping it going. It
took all three of us to make that happen, along with many talented layout
people, local artists, and dozens of dedicated writers.

The Gardeners: Bob, LaVerne, Janet,

At the time that
this historical “Awakening” began in Blanding, none of we three principal
“Gardeners” were twiddling our thumbs looking for something else to do. We were
all raising large families, working, serving in the LDS Church and community,
and dealing with the vicissitudes of life brought on by tots and
teenagers. We were, however, all open to
new ideas, and felt the import and urgency in preserving local history.

LaVerne Powell Tate
had recently been appointed the first chairman of the San Juan County
Historical Commission. She was the
mother of a large active family of 12 children and during the time we worked on
the magazine she faced many trials and challenges in her life, among them the
loss of her husband Jack following a life-altering logging accident. LaVerne is
made of tough stock, however, and is San Juan County through and through.
She knew first-hand about trading posts, Navajos, Utes, pioneers, and
history, genealogy, and geography. Based upon her early experiences she had
a life-long appreciation for culture and history and the impact of
"place" on life in the Four Corners. During
the early years of the magazine, LaVerne did the leg work on finding and
copying photos for each issue. She served as business manager and fiscal
officer for grants as well as photo editor, magazine distribution and has often
been a writer and editor. For the past five
years she has worked as managing editor and kept the magazine going since I
retired in 2007. Through her steadfastness and skill she has helped to publish
45 issues of Blue Mountain Shadows.

Bob McPherson, like me, was a transplant to San Juan County;
however, the Four Corners area soon became the center of the universe for all
the key places, people, and history he loves. He has been our resident scholar and advisor
while teaching history and anthropology classes at USU/San Juan Campus. He had
toyed with the idea of creating a regional magazine, even before we organized,
but didn't have the resources to make it happen. He had many articles and ideas
at his fingertips, that needed publishing and was so supportive and positive
about the project from its inception.

Bob has written and
served as editor of BMS dozens of times. He has been dogged in collecting oral
histories, some of which have included the changing role of Navajo women,
medicine men, early traders, plants, Comb Ridge, and stories about Navajo
Oshley. It seemed he was always off to the reservation with sacks of Blue Bird
flour, encouraging Navajo people to share their stories and culture. His
interest in Native American culture uncovered stories that had been buried for nearly
a century. Bob’s strengths helped us and others see the larger picture and the
deeper meaning of county events and people.
He also kept us supplied with wonderful research topics, and themes for
future issues. He is one of the reasons, the magazine will never run out of
subject matter. His research skills and
ability to analyze, contrast, and compare, gave both depth and credibility to
our efforts.

As the
ringleader of this historical triage, I also had a large family of eight
children, all at home when the wheels were set in motion for Blue Mountain Shadows. I had a BA English and minor in history. At one time I had begun a Masters Degree in
folklore. My real passion however, was
journalism, and through early experiences writing news and feature stories for
the San Juan Record I’d come to know
and love many of the good people and rich history of San Juan County. This menagerie of experiences prepared me in
for the role I was to take as managing editor.

Even
though most people only think of the “magazine” when they hear “Blue Mountain
Shadows,” my role definitely included much more than just publishing. In addition to making sure a magazine came
out twice a year, I also spearheaded dozens of public presentations where we
presented historical information to local audiences. Topics included the Posey War, Archaeology,
mining, ranching, trading posts, and many Native American topics.

Between
1989-1997 Blue Mountain Shadows sponsored a series of 4th of July
folk festivals in Blanding. These were done in partnership with Kigalia Fine
Arts and the San Juan County Historical Commission, The festivals included quilt
shows, programs, performances, workshops, and booths all related to
folklife. I served as the chairman seven
years for that event, working with dozens of wonderful people who helped pull
it all together. We also sponsored a big Blanding Birthday party with cowboy
poetry, workshops and a hoedown.

Another role I filled was
supervising the collection several oral interview projects. These projects started in 1987 when Blue
Mountain Shadows began, then expanded later to World War II oral histories as
well as the collection and transcription Cottonwood Mining oral histories, the
indexing and partial translating of 70 Navajo interviews; as well as the
collection of over 350 documents related to historic road use in San Juan
County. Most of these required special
funding, which meant writing proposals to make the dream happen. In the process of sharing history I also
learned how to create documentaries using Photodex and spent hundreds of hours creating
the Blanding Centennial Show, 100 Years of Quilting, and 20th BMS Anniversary
DVD.

Work in the Trenches: Preparing the Ground

As in real life,
the main killer of dreams is lack of funding, and that was the first big obstacle
to overcome if we were going accomplish any of our goals. Fortunately, a few years earlier Lynn Lee had
helped me successfully write a proposal for San Juan Education Days which was
funded by Utah Endowment of the Humanities (Utah Humanities Council). In 1983 and 1984 our committee organized dozens
of workshops throughout the county. This
experience helped me in writing the initial proposal which funded Blue Mountain Shadows. The state UHC director, Delmont Oswald, was very
encouraging, though he cautioned that the board would likely not approve the project
more than once, as “they were not in the publishing business.” My main role from then on was to keeping the
dream growing by securing grants for our “great ideas.”

Our first Humanities Excellence AwardPresented by Delmont Oswald

I wrote over 20
proposals in the 20 years I worked as managing editor. These helped to partially fund the magazine
and other historical events we organized. Over the years, the Utah Humanities
Council awarded dozens of grants to help us with our specific issues as well as
oral history projects. Other groups and
individuals who periodically helped fund our endeavors included Clyde Harvey,
The Charles Redd Foundation, Utah Arts Council, Bureau of Land Management, Edge
of the Cedars Museum, Recapture Metals, San Juan School District Foundation, San
Juan County, and Division of State History.

Just thinking about
writing another proposal makes me shutter today, but at one time I did it to
help Blue Mountain Shadows survive
and thrive. Those were the years I
learned to get by on 5-6 hours of sleep. Today, BMS has simplified its focus,
and between San Juan County funding and magazine sales they are able to pay for
publishing costs. We have also been thrilled to see the Edge of the Cedars
Museum take the lead in hosting and organizing historical and cultural
programs. That has significantly lightened
our burden.

Preparing for the first harvest

In 1986, our
planning committee determined that the first grant request should include
funding for conducting interviews and transcribing them as well as publishing
one magazine. From these interviews we
hoped to have enough material for two or more additional magazines. We
concentrated on the history of San Juan County from 1900-1940. The pre-selected topics were the CCC camps,
Mexico Mormons, pioneer entertainment, the building of the South Chapel,
bootlegging, remedies, Ute culture, law enforcement, the Anasazi, and the
influenza epidemic.

We next selected a
team of students, and adults to conduct interviews. These included Bertha Parrish, Anna Marie Nat,
Kim Hurst, Deniane Gutke, Laura Shumway, Annette Carroll, Gipp Redd, Thelma
Tate and Regina Yazzie. Once all these
details were hammered out I wrote the first proposal, which was funded for
$6649. Half of our hours were considered volunteer donations that summer, so I
made $3 an hour, and my transcribers made $2.
We certainly weren’t in it for the money!

Helen Shumway was
another consistent and loyal writer, who provided dozens of articles, ideas,
and even art for the magazine. She also took
on the daunting task of collecting and editing the first 50 year history of San
Juan High for BMS. She just passed away
in 2011, and will be missed. Her cousin
Dora Shumway helped us with distribution for many years, which lightened our
burden. Gary Shumway, Jim Knipmeyer and Winston Hurst are three other key
writers who added to the magazines veracity and longevity.

On June 10-11,1987 we officially began
with a series of workshops to train the BMS staff, then we all joined in force to
conduct the interviews. Even though each person had a specific topic to write
on, as interviewers we asked questions related to all the topics when we talked
to someone.

The School
District Foundation donated money so we could purchase variable speed recorders
and microphones for interviewing and transcription. We did interviews in
Monument Valley, White Mesa, Monticello, Blanding, and Salt Lake City. Each hour of recorded tape required nearly 10
hours of transcription. It was tedious
work requiring a high level of concentration. Additional transcribers were
pulled in including Preston Blake, Patrice Webb, Beverly Brown, Shana Stubbs,
Karalene Brown, Stephanie Blake, Sheri Balch, Staci Brown and Maureen Black. We
relied heavily on these responsible high school students to get the job done,
and when we ran out of money to pay them, they worked as volunteers. This time
was as valuable as money, as we could use their work hours as match to the
actual cash the grant provided. All this
had to be documented and tabulated when the final reports were made – another
task I didn’t enjoy.

Denianne Gutke’s assigned topic was the
CCC camp in Blanding. She interviewed at
least a dozen different people while collecting her information. She recalled
interviewing Frank ‘Bo’ Montella.

“He
was a CCC enrollee from back East who stayed in the area. Thinking back on my
interview with Bo, my mind recreates him as this fascinating rogue from New
York, still carrying an accent after all his years in Blanding. I glimpse a
twinkle in his eye as he tells me the pranks of the camp and we laugh together.
“When the mess sergeant wasn’t around, there were the biggest food fights
you’ve ever seen!” Bo recalled. To this day I remember the connection I felt to
the CCC’s just by being in his house—so close in proximity to the camp where
many of their experiences occurred. Bo made so many good friends through the
CCC’s, and several stayed in contact with each other their entire lives.
Ultimately, my interview with Bo was vital to history because he was so good at
seeing and explaining both sides of the story. Political and religious clashes
were a part of almost everyone’s experiences with the CCC’s, and Bo was able to
share this aspect in a way I could understand and later share with others
through magazine articles. (Letter 1/9/2012)”

That summer Blue Mountain Shadows
staffers conducted 60 interviews and we about wore ourselves out getting them
transcribed. Even though many on the team were intimidated by the thought of
interviewing, I believe it was actually one of the most rewarding parts of the
whole process. We all made new friends,
while validating and preserving the experiences and memories of the older
people we interviewed.

High
school senior Annette Carroll recalled the experience:

“Blue Mountain Shadows

I was privileged to be in on the first project.
Mrs. Janet Wilcox asked me, as a senior in high school, if I would like to
participate in writing a couple of articles for a local magazine. She hoped it
would be long lasting. I agreed, knowing it would help me in high school. She
actually let me use part of two research papers I had completed for school work
as the basis of the two articles that I was to write about. One was the myth of
Bigfoot and the other was on the Last Indian War of the United States which
involved Posey, a native of our San Juan County area.

I remember interviewing a couple of good men for
these articles as well as my own grandmother. I also remember using the
transcribing tape recorders that were new then! We had to check them out from
Mrs. Wilcox.

When we were done with the interviews we spent
several hours at the school on weekends using the "new" computers of
the time to type out and save what we had done. Not fully understanding
computers and electronics yet, I had spent a few hours one stormy day
transcribing, when suddenly the power glitched and it deleted all I had done. I
was so frustrated when I had to start all over! I learned to save often after
that. Transcribing was tedious work. It required careful listening and constant
rewinding to be able to understand and type all that the people said in those
oral interviews.

When we came to a point where the publishing
process was ready to begin, I had a deadline I was trying to meet. I had gone
to St. George with some of my family to get registered for college. As we were
returning home, I was working on one of the articles with papers spread
everywhere in the vehicle, when we were involved in a serious car wreck. The
papers were scattered all over the car, and I thought I might lose my life.
However, God was watching over us and though we sustained some injuries,
everyone was OK and eventually I got my article turned in on time.

Being involved in the beginning of such a
project was so cool. Being able to watch what it has grown into, is even
better. Thank you for the opportunity to be involved in something so wonderful
that preserves our heritage“ (Facebook
post 1/7/2012)!

Reviewing the list of people we were
privileged to interview the summer of 1987, reads like a San Juan County Hall
of Fame. Many of them lived nearly 100 years, so their life experiences were
wide and varied. The ones I personally talked to were Eva Torres
(1912-2007), Hilda Oliver Perkins (1912-1999), Alma Jones (1902-1989), Ervin
Guymon (1907-2006), Frank Wright
(1903-2002), J Glen Shumway (1908-1992), Parley Hurst (1892-1995), Gene
Blickenstaff (1916-1996), Ray Hunt (1902-1998), Kent Frost, and Ray Jarvis. As I reflect upon the years of experience
these good people had, I’m so
thankful we started when we did, or their memories may not have been
preserved. Ray Jarvis just died in 2011,
but his stories of the southwest and Mexico were some of the wildest ones I’d
ever heard, and told in a most entertaining fashion.

Patrice
Webb Crandall remembered working for Blue
Mountain Shadows as a high school student:

“When you first approached me about working on the Shadows,
the money was tight and we knew it would probably be a lot of volunteering. I
think I made $2 an hour, and that was only until the money ran out. I still
thought it was a great summer job, and I'm sure I was thinking my resume would
benefit, too.

I was pretty nervous when I first started
interviewing people. I actually had to talk to old people I didn't know.That's pretty scary for a teenager. But,
over time, it was easy and enjoyable. I wish I remembered all that we talked
about, but I do remember interviewing people on home remedies. Mustard plasters
and herbs and even how they used a hot knife on the back are a few I remember.

Much of my time was also transcribing mine and
others' interviews (I must have been a fast typist). I learned so much about
the area, that I truly felt I fell in love with San Juan County.Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of something
special. And now 25 years later? Wow” (Facebook post 1/3/2012)!

San Juan High Principal
Jim Harris allowed our staff to use San Juan High’s computer lab all
summer. Besides organizing the interview
teams, and keeping track of their tapes, typed manuscripts, and work hours, I supervised
the high school students throughout the summer, answering their questions, clarifying
words, and making sure everyone was paid their pittance. Editing transcripts was part of my tedious
task, but it also had its humorous moments:
Oljato being written as “Old Jay Toe” and Verdure was often spelled “Verjur.” By the end of the summer a vast bank of data
had been collected and we were ready to begin writing.

Hard Fought Harvest:

From these transcripts
three magazines were generated, with the first one published fall of 1987. I was
so tired and worn out after we completed that first year of work I didn’t feel
I could do any more work on Blue Mountain
Shadows, much less teach school that fall, but somehow I did. At this same time, our family had started a
major second floor addition to our home and were doing much of the work
ourselves; plus, my mother had moved to Blanding and she needed quite a bit of attention
as well. Had it not been for our older boys
I’m sure I would have had a nervous breakdown. I always felt I was juggling a dozen
balls and at times I wondered if we’d ever get the first issue out.

I wrote In my
journal Oct. 25, 1987: “Mon-Thurs. I
worked on the magazine and nearly have it all done. There is just a little more photo shooting to
do, and a couple of captions to finish.
It has really been depressing in lots of ways—lots more hours than I had
expected, and we’re a month behind schedule.
I hope it turns out well.”

Another role my
students played was in selecting the name of Blue Mountain Shadows. Through
1986 and most of 1987 I always referred to it as “the magazine.” But as we got closer to publishing date, we
had to decide on a name. I asked my
English students to submit possible names for it. We did an initial vote in the classes and I
let them vote 3 times as I recall. The
next day they voted again on a narrowed down list of 10. The final vote had 3 names on it, and Blue
Mountain Shadows rose to the top. Finally the dream had a name!

My Rattler staff and
I did the layout for the first issue.
This was all done using the old fashioned cut and paste method on a
light table. Computers were only used
for composing and editing text, which was printed out in columns, cut apart,
and pasted on the layout paper. The
titles were strip printed at the media center, and they also half-toned the
photos for us. Lea Hurst and Betty Shumway were our key help there. We had some
problems with the first issue, as the school district media center had never
printed on slick magazine paper before, and it required a special ink to make
it adhere. There were no machines to collate the 66 pages and cover, so again my
classes manually collated all 500 magazines.
That was a little wild but we got it done. Next they had to be stapled,
which we helped do as well. That first
issue was really a “hands on” experience.

Miraculously the
first issue came out a month later. I
wrote on Nov. 29th, “Our first
issue went on sale this week and we have sold about 3/5ths of what we need to
pay the printing bill. There were a few
really bad boo-boos. Three black photos
and two captions left off and one photo upside down, but the articles are
good. We are selling them for $3.50 or
$4 for mail orders.”

All the BMS staff and
writers were especially excited to get the first issue out. When they came to pick their copies up, we
all signed each others articles. It was
our big payoff for all our work, and we all felt we had really accomplished
something. Now to market it and hope
others would love it too.

A week later on
Dec. 5 I wrote, “The first sales of our
magazine have gone so well. It will only
be three weeks since we got it out and we only have about 75 left that aren’t placed. The response has been better than I had even
hoped. That is very encouraging, knowing
that it has been so well received.”

We only published
500 copies of the first issue, but later Gary Shumway helped us do a reprint in
1988. He has been a faithful contributor/supporter over the years, full of
ideas, and willingness to help write and serve as editor. We had a brief few months respite and then we
jumped right into preparing articles for the 1988 issues. I knew I couldn’t do
layout again with everything else I was responsible for, so we hired Debbie and
Terri Slade to design the magazine -- plus it was handy for me as they lived
just through the fence! They had started
a local paper in Blanding, and had the equipment necessary to do layout. That took a lot of pressure off my
shoulders. Stan and Eva Byrd did layout
for the following two issues. Stan had
experience in publishing, and made more improvements to the magazine. By issue #5 Deniane Gutke came back to
Blanding with a whole new bank of skills and creativity, and she took over the
layout for the next seven issues. Even
though others were doing the layout, the magazine always required a final read
and corrections. I remember several all-nighters
when we worked through the night making final edits and changes. “Sleep deprived” became my “modus operandi.”

Shurrell Meyer was
our next specialist for layout and did a great job as well, helping to produce
issues 13-39. Her cover designs were always striking and creative. Issues 40-45 have been designed by Donna
Blake. The amazing progress in computer technology the past 25 years has truly made
publishing a small town magazine a viable possibility that has become more of a
pleasure instead of a pain. Word
processing, page design, photo scanning, and spread sheets for compiling data
have all enhanced our ability to produce attractive and interesting magazines.
Yet at the core of any publication such as this, is the basic need for accurate
historical research, and engaging writing and we have tried to do that from the
very beginning.

How our Garden Grew

As readership grew
we would publish anywhere from 1500-3000 copies of Blue Mountain Shadows,
depending upon the topic and our financial status. Looking for additional ways to promote the
magazine and share our findings we expanded our presence through a web site
which I created the summer of 2001. Though a great idea, a web site is a whole
different garden to tend, and requires diligence and technical skill to keep
alive. My volunteer bank of energy only had so much to give and it hasn’t been
updated since 2006, but it does articles from the out of print issues, as well
as summaries of issues through #26. It
can be found at http://www.bluemountainshadows.org/

Through the years several
of our issues, and oral history projects were given state as well as national
recognition.

In February 1988 I wrote in my journal, “We received two letters from UEH commending
us for the project and saying it had been selected as a merit project for 1987.”
K C and I went up for the awards program in March. I was on foot, and not knowing where the Rio
Grand Station was I had walked to 530 E. and instead of 5:30 W. Fortunately, I was able to catch a bus back
and was only 5 min. late.

As exciting and
happy as we were with this first commendation, I wrote in my journal that week,
“It was really a nice recognition and
plaque they gave us, but walking back afterwards, I realized that it was less
satisfying than the feeling I have when my kids do what is right. They are my real “merit projects.”

In 1990 the magazine was recognized by the
American Association of State and Local History, specifically for our effort in
interviewing and preserving local history. I gave a presentation for them at
their conference in Park City on using oral histories and drew heavily upon
Blue Mountain Shadows on our experiences.

In 1992 the
magazine’s contribution was recognized along with other community groups and Blanding
was given The Governor’s Award for the Arts at special banquet in SLC with
Norman Bangerter.

In 1996our
State Centennial Issue also received a Merit award from UHC. This time I asked
Nathan to represent Blue Mountain Shadows and pick up the award, which he was able to do.

in 2006 Blue
Mountain Shadows was honored by UHC for our public programming and the Blanding
Centennial issue in 2005. LaVerne and I
attended the awards program Feb. 1. We had worked hard to make our town’s
centennial celebration historically richer not only because of the magazine but
through four events which Blue Mt.
Shadows sponsored:

1.

Blanding’s
100 year History slide show. This was shown at 6 different events during 2005,
with approximately 1900 people seeing it.

2.The
Centennial Swing on March 5 had 1000 in attendance with old time dance
instruction, and a lecture on the history of dance in rural Utah.

3.Centennial
Quilters slide Show featured 100 years of quilting and quilters in the county.

4.Lecture
on The Early Native American Experience presented by Bob McPherson and Winston
Hurst.

During
the 20+ years I worked on the magazine several family crises occurred. A house fire in 1990 and the tragic death of
a son two years later were especially devastating. During those difficult times
there were always good people who shored me up, and kept us going. I love the integrity and grit of the people
I’ve come to know through researching writing about the history of San Juan
County. None of this, however, would
have happened without a very supportive husband and good children, who helped so
much at home and supported me in my never ending projects.

As with any good
“seed” that is cultivated and cared for, it thrives, and Blue Mountain Shadows continues
today because there are those who tend it.
Their inventory of past issues fills an historical granary of sorts and
new readers to Blue Mountain Shadows can purchase enough past issues to have
almost a full set. There have been many
good harvests and our little historical publication became much more than I had
initially envisioned. I thought perhaps we might be able to publish 10-12
issues of the magazine before we ran out of ideas. Now it has grown to
#45. Hopefully, there will continue to
be dedicated gardeners who can help keep the harvests coming.